I had been unsuccessful in sighting the Common Crane on my last visit, in spite of it being a great day with other wonderful birds being present. With a little more information to hand, I was going to leave the Cranes until late afternoon and enjoy another day around Castro Verde. It was much windier today which meant a real chill in temperatures, but that didn't seem to affect the excellent birds I found at the Horta da Nora lake, outside Castro Verde town. Once again, this small lake had some great birds visiting, the most obvious being - my first adult Black Storks. Previously, I have seen only juvenile, migratory Black Stork but these were clearly adults, with the distinct red bills. They were in company with two White Storks which made for an unusual group. At the far end of the lake, a larger than usual egret left me in no doubt that a Great White Egret had dropped in and was feeding along a reedbed. This was the first time I have seen Great White Egret in the Alentejo and only my third in Portugal, so very pleased to see this one. Characteristic 'tucked in' neck on Great White Egret. Yes, those are House Martins! On my last trip, I found two Swallows here. They were still present and four House Martins were flying with them today. House Martins in January!!! On the far side of the lake, tucked in some long grass, I just made out four Stone Curlew. Carrion Crows were about and a Southern Grey Shrike sat on nearby wires. Two Red Kites and a Common Buzzard hunted the fields, taking advantage of the fresh wind. The next few hours touring the grasslands were fairly quiet, I thought perhaps the wind was getting a little too strong and birds weren't showing well at all. In one of the large flocks of Corn Buntings, I separated out a couple of Calandra Larks which I'd totally overlooked on my previous trip. Through Salto, a female Hen Harrier passed quickly over a hill. In the same area, six Great Bustards were seen distantly. It was time to climb the hill at Nossa Senhora de Arecelis and begin looking for the Cranes. From this very place, the view over the Alentejo is outstanding. The fields below revealed the birds I had been looking for. A group of sixteen Great Bustards were noticed first and then, in another field, a large number of Common Cranes were assembled. They were a considerable distance away and I made the decision to observe them from some farm buildings, within about 300 metres. A juvenile Crane in the foreground here. When the sun dropped away, the Cranes left these fields and went off to roost While the Cranes were in the field, in the first image, I counted out 100 birds. I estimated there was an equal amount still to count and reckon 200 would be a fairly accurate assessment.
Jim
22/1/2019 07:45:37 pm
This is a fantastic blog - thank you for sharing your sightings and birding experiences. Comments are closed.
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